Is a 40 Hour a Week in the Office Really Efficient for Federal Employees ?
This Ground Has Been Covered in AEI's "Hardly Working" Podcast
American Enterprise Institute runs a podcast on Labor issues called “Hardly Working.” The name of the podcast doesn’t quite capture the attitude, exactly, of the “content” (as the kids say) of the podcast. The theme of the podcast is the hope you find the job that fits you so well that it feels like you’re hardly working.
So, with that caveat, let me proceed to the issue at hand. Which is the assumption that DOGE is making that 40 hours plus of in person work in the federal building is the most efficient from a federal employment perspective. That is, that having federal employees come in every day of the week in person for work is the best bang for the tax payer’s buck.
I have to admit, the idea is politically popular among Republicans. But what’s unclear is that the popularity is properly based in knowledge of efficiency for federal labor, or based in some kind of joy we get when we think of these Democrat employees battling traffic and standing in line to go through security after struggling for a parking spot.
This podcast, which has a Republican slant, in 2021 in October seems to imply (strongly) that some hybrid of 2 or 3 days per week of in person work is the more efficient than the whole 40 in person.
Something that, if true, might be embarrassing if DOGE looks into it and wants to be honest about labor efficiency.
If you run a business or non-profit corporation and manage employees, you may benefit from the Highlights, the audio, or full transcript, linked below, in coming to your own conclusions about what’s most efficient in your labor context.
Here is the Audio: https://www.aei.org/podcast/nicholas-bloom-on-the-future-of-remote-work/
Here is the Full Transcript: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Bloom.FullTranscript.Formatted.pdf?x85095